Collapsible motor scooter



April 22, 1952 KlNG COLLAPSIBLE MOTOR SCOOTER 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 FiledMarch 28, 1949 K 1'. King INVENTOR I I I ATTORNEYS.

April 22, 1952 K. T. KING 2,594,034

COLLAPSIBLE MOTOR SCOOTER Filed March 28, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 INVENTORATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 22, 1952 :UENFIT ED :s TATE-s PATENT ore-tee 12,594,1134 ooth-Amman Mo'rcmsooo'ma li'reith.fllflKing Colchesterglll.sennucaconrmmn '23,. 19.49, Serial No.; cases iZiClaims. (clam-+33)f-This"inventionrelates to athat +type of motor-;poweredipassenger-carrying-=vehicle known'coml .imonly asf a motorscooter, and-more particularly, *the' invention has reference to:a-collapsible motor "scooter-specially adapted for beingrsstoredb in asmail area zwhen not in :use.

1T0 :my knowledge, there has not previously been devised a collapsiblevehicle of. this. general ixtype, :de'spite the ":fact. that undercertain :condi- :tionsathere 'isa clear'des'irability fora small-motor-scooter foldable' swiftly. :and with: ease into a a;compact-*massoccupying onlyzar small space in airplanes; apartments, during shipment,etc.

' 'I 'o +;'this end, "I have r-devised :a gmotor scooter=;.-construction which will --meet these desirable -t8li'lllS.

.rnnother imnortan :oblectjs :to pro id a 5 .0.1

. ;iapsible;rmotor :scoote-r which :not only :caril be ii-ioldedoricollapsed swiftly :and with "cease so as to occupyonly a very smallspace, .ibut Which-- xadditioiiallyican be unfolded ,for use with equalspeed: and. facility. 1

Still another-important object .is to provide a ,..motor.-.s 'cooter,,ofthe character described which can be constructedat:nojgreaterexpensa'andin fact 1 at. less expense," than 7 motor scooters pres-"en'tly in general" use, while -s'till 1 embodying the collapsibleconstructionnoted-above.

"Another important object is to provide, in a -=-scooter::ofthecharacter described a construction which swill' be durable'and"WhichW'fllnot readily get'outof" order.

With the foregoing and other objects in? view which 'will :appear as"the descriptionmroceeds.

the intention consists of certainmovel details of construction andcombinations ofrrparts, hereinafter-morefully:described and-pointed:outin the .claimsfit' being understood that changes may be imnade in itthe construction :and arrangement of "parts-without'departingirom-thespirit .of the inve,nti;on'rasaclaimed.

:constructed in "accordance with the f'iIIKBIIfiOn, "the dottedline-ishowingrthe positicniof :the frontnolttion'zofrthescooter-whencollapsed orwifolded.

wiew "of he Q'OQIIHQCtiOD. .ibetweenzthe front :and wear" portions-of17118380001361 dram-e.

Referring .toilthedrawings in' detail, 5 and B designate:a:pair. ofparallel .elongated-rearvframe of" the members 5 and '6,' -"the handleBaasclearly shown in Fig. 1; isoblique to a line drawn :longi-'tudinally and "centrally through the "device.

:Fixedly connectedhy welding or by=any othersuitableiasteningmeanstothe'undersides-otrthe members 5-and "6 are theidepending -aperture'd ing :parallel to each *other, i butoblique toithe parallel frame *:members' 5 andfi to *which *they are respectivelyconnected. lhe'iierring-to=Fig.11.1,

shown clearly in"Fig.l'2. Thefronttrame'memhers I I and I 2-have-parallel -rear portions' 'f'l, l 4

' resp y, "the "free ends of which are -bent -obliquely as at l5 and I6and apertured 'for-registry with the apertures of the-lugs ilwan'd l 0.

'Asmay be noted from'the drawings one ofe'the front frame members, hereshown as the- -member'l2, is longer-thanthe other, so *that the-obliqueends l5 and Hi of said members are in contact with the lugs Sand lflpanfd a 'pivot shaft H, which can compriseawhreaded "bolt =or its--equivalent, is extended through "the 'registering apertureso'fthejlugs 9: and fl 0 and. the' bbligue -endsl5 and I6.

By reasomof this construction, it tmay be 'observed from Figs; 1 and 3'that the entire front portion of thescooter is capable ofpivoting-.about "the pivot shaft", and when swung on'this pivot, thefront portionof the scooter moves out of' the plane "ofthe"longit.udinal "center .line "of "the scooter,- pivoting in-a';planeoblique'tosaidcenter line so that the frontportion-of-the=$cooter iwill n ove to the dottedliline position illustrated sin1 and thefull line:position illustrated in iF'ig.

3. In this position, --the *front portion ioi ithe scooter is collapsedagainst the underside of the rear portion thereof.

In scooters of this type, it is general practice to provide a foot rest,and to this end, I provide the sleeve H3, in which telescopes theextension bar I9, which can be secured in extended or collapsedpositions by means of the clamping screw 20 threadable through thesleeve.

The purpose of providing a telescoping foot rest, wherein only half thefoot rest, shown as the lower half in Fig. 1, is retracted, is toeliminate projections extending beyond one side, shown as the undersidein Fig. 1, when the scooter is collapsed. It is not necessary tocollapse the other end of the foot rest, because this portion will bedisposed under the rear portion of the scooter.

Welded to the upwardly extended front ends of the front frame members Hand I2 is the clevis 2|, supporting the steering yoke 22 of invertedU-shaped formation. Steering yoke 22 is pivotally connected to theclevis Zl by means of the pivot bolt 23 extending downwardly through thetopportion of the yoke and through the arms of the clevis, and havingits lower end extended through the plate 24 extending between the armsof the yoke intermediate the ends thereof.

Rotatably mounted between the depending yoke arms is the front wheel 25.

Extending transversely and horizontally be- .tween the arms of the yoke22 is a pivot shaft 26, pivotally connecting to the yoke the upwardlyextended arms 21 that comprise an upper extension for the yoke. The arms2l have fixedly se- 1 cured to their upper ends the laterally extended.;sleeve 28, in which telescopes the extension member 29, these providinga steering handlefor the motor scooter. As in the case of the foot rest,the handle collapses only at one side of the scooter, because theother-sideisdisposed under the rear portion-of the scooter when saidscooter .is collapsed, as shown by the dotted lines in ceiving clampingmeans 32 here shown asa stud.

and wing nut so that the extension arms 2? are locked in longitudinalalignment with the steering yoke 22 for normal operation of the scooter.

Connected at one end to the steering handle,

and extending downwardly between the arms of the steering yoke and underthe front portion of the scooter is the flexible control cable 33, thatextends over the pivot shaft H as clearly shown in Fig.2, the other endof said cable extending to the motor or power plant, which is designatedgenerally by the reference numeral 3 1. It will be understood in thisconnection, that the motor de- 1; sign may vary, but in any event, it iscontemplated that the motor will be mounted upon. the rear frame membersand 6. Supported on top of the motor housing is the gas tank 35, whichalso comprises in the present instance a seat for the operator. Saidseat, of course, would be suitably cushioned and designed as desired.

Generally designated by the reference numeral 36 is thetransmission,extending from the power plant to the rear or drive Wheel 7, and again,the

present invention is not particularly concerned with the design of saidtransmission. In any event, said transmission and motor are both locatedupon the rear portion of the scooter, in a position in which they willbe out of the way of the front portion when said front portion iscollapsed against the underside of the rear portion.

I believe that the collapsible arrangement need not be dwelt onextensively, and will be apparent from the drawings and from thedescription which has so far been provided. However, to sum up thecollapsible construction, it may be noted that assuming the scooter isto be collapsed from the position illustrated in full lines in Figs. 1and 2, the user unloosens the locking means 32, so that the upperextension 2'! of the steering yoke is collapsed downwardly andrearwardly against the front frame members H and I2. The position ofsaid upper extenison in its collapsed position is clearly shown in Fig.3.

Then, grasping the handle 6, the operator exerts upward pull on saidhandle, so that the entire front portion of the scooter swingsdownwardly and under the rear portion to the dotted line positionillustrated in Fig. l and the full line position illustrated in Fig. 3.Inthe unfolded positions of the parts (Fig. 2), the rear frame members 5and 6 serve as stops for the front frame members H and 52, or moreproperly, for the parallel portions !3 and M of said front members. Inthe collapsed positions, member 5 is a stop for member I2, which crossesit obliquely, as seen from Fig. 1. Additionally, it may be noted thatinthis position, the front portion'will have its wheel disposed at theside of the rear wheel, and while part of the front portion will bedisposed under the rear portion, the remainder will be disposed'to theside of'said-rear. portion, thus to collapse the entire structure in theminimum of space. The steering handle and the foot rest, meanwhile, arealso telescoped', so that they will not prov'ideany projections beyondthe side of the scooter; H I

The scooter is now fully collapsed, and canbe transported readily inairplanes, automobiles, or stored in a small space for shipment or wherethe user has minimum space for the storage of the scooter, as in anapartment. During the collapsing operation, the operating cable ofcourse flexes as necessary.

I believe it will be apparent that any suitable releasable latches canbe provided adjacent to scripticn herein.

What is claimed is:

1. In a self propelled vehicle an elongated front frame section carryingadjacent one end a dirigible ground wheel and means to govern themovements of said ground wheel, an elongated rear frame section carryingadjacent one end a traction wheel said rear frame section also carryinga prime mover and means to establish driving connection between theprime moverand the traction wheel, a horizontally disposed pivot shaftcarried by the rear frame section intermediate the ends thereof, saidpivot shaft extending transversely of the rear frame section below saidsection and being pivotally connected to the front frame sectionadjacent the end thereof remote from the ground wheel, and said pivotshaft lying at an acute angle to a perpendicular to the longitudinalaxis of the vehicle whereby when the vehicle is folded the front framesection will lie at an angle to the rear frame section.

2. The structure recited in claim 1 in which the 1 Number means togovern the movements of the ground 1,229,359 wheel includes a telescopichandle bar. 1,524,552

KEITH T. KING. 2,077,751 7 5 2,111,691 REFERENCES CITED 2,479,467 Thefollowing references are of record in the file of th1s patent: NumberUNITED STATES PATENTS 13 23 Number Name Date I 3,836

864,202 Simmons Aug. 27, 1907 I1 Name Date Weddle June 12, 1917 HudryJan. 27, 1925 Floss Apr. 20, 1937 Salsbury Mar. 22, 1938 Bryant Aug. 16,1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain A. D. 1903 France Apr.5, 1943

